Food... & breakfast.

Supplies~
Cardstock: American Crafts
Alphas: American Crafts
Papers: American Crafts
Stickers: K&Company, 7 Gypsies
Ribbon: K.I. Memories
Flowers: Prima Marketing

[EDIT/23.10.2009: Details added now :D]

Okay I think I've to admit it. I am not perfect. I am a major photoshop nut. :D But not to the extent of mortifying myself on that program. I did tweak the layout above using Photoshop... and I might have went a wee bit too far with the brightness and contrast tools... which explains why my doily lace (guess what I got it from - improvise, people, I got it from a local diner... they must be thinking what was a teenage girl doing/thinking by asking for something like... doily lace. That is one big syndrome of being a scrapaholic) look so vague compared to the rest of the page.

Other than that, I also added typed journalling to the page on Photoshop. Then I printed the extra copy out and snuck it on the backside of the layout protector that lies inside my scrapbook album. :D I wanted to try printing on the cardstock itself but given my clumsy nature, I will mess it up for sure, and therefore, I didn't attempt doing so, heh. :D

Well, technique-wise, I played on major tone-on-tone (white on white in this case) in this layout! I think the effect that came out was pretty cool! :D

Now on to the journaling.. it says:

{Sometimes all we have to do is to just sit back and enjoy the first meal of the day heartily and happily... too bad I always miss out on them. I need to learn to be more appreciative in the future and start to enjoy the meals!}

Well, to be honest, when I was 5... I was a chubby lil' kid because of my large appetite. Chocolates were my preferred choice of food, as with every other young kiddo. :P I even have some photos to prove the above fact! But, when I was reaching 6/7, I don't know why, but my appetite took a major downturn. I hated eating. I had a sudden disgust and distaste for all food around me. Even all the chocolates that I loved before got affected as well. The sight and thought of food and them going down my gullet/oesophagus just disgusted me. I felt like I could puke anytime and everytime food enters my mouth.

It disgusted me to the state that sometimes I could just survive on a spoonful of rice/noodles for a day (and of course, water). If they tried to force-fed me, I will just breakdown or break out into tears. At least, that's what my parents whined to me about. Well, of course, my parents were dead worried about whatever that had happened to me and brought me to see a doctor to get a proper diagnosis, but the doctor said I had some kind of psychological barrier that hindered me from eating and subduing my appetite (Honestly, I had no idea what I did or heard when I was 5... so don't ask me about the details either :P I tried to ask my parents but they couldn't remember either)

But I still remembered clearly that during those times, I really hated food. Nobody truly understood why I was reacting that way towards food all of a sudden. Actually, I didn't know it myself either. No matter how my parents tried to force-fed me, I just can't eat much. That whole condition lasted for a whole month (though it got better gradually by the day), until my appetite was back to that of a normal person, to say the least.

Now that I think of it, could I have gotten anorexia when I was 6? That still remains a question, and a mystery, but definitely not one that I am desperate to solve. Just let bygones be bygones. At least those days are over now... or else all the troubles I could have caused to people around me would be distratrous if that continued till today.

Luckily, my appetite was restored. But I don't know whether it was due to me growing up or something, sometimes skipping meals doesn't come as a surprise to me anymore. I could survive easily without eating a meal (but I will still eat whenever I have to) for the day, such as breakfast, or lunch. (I am forced to come back home everyday on time to have my dinner though, I guess my mom wouldn't wish to see her daughter turn from a human being to being a virtual skeleton)

Because of the fact that I practically have to rush to school every single day, I often skip breakfast. Of course, as a biology student (albeit not a good one :P), I am highly aware that it isn't a recommended option, because several fatal stomach/gastric conditions can occur out of this habit of mine.

But sometimes, life just get in the way isn't it? I am not exactly an expert at time management either. Well, at least now I am trying to get rid of this bad habit of mine and learn to have proper meals/diets for the whole day... instead of relying just what is required.

Breakfast is extremely important. They give you the necessary boost of energy to assist you in whatever that comes in your way for the rest of the day. That probably explains for my restlessness in all of the days that I didn't take my breakfast. :D

On a sidenote, I am a huge fan of MacDonalds' Hotcakes breakfast meal. It's just simply divine when matched with maple syrup. Can you tell I have a sweet tooth yet? :P

Also submittted this layout for a challenge on American Crafts! Hopefully that gives me a chance to win some of the new Letterbox *AC's newest line that is just way too gorgeousssss* goodies.

Trust me, nobody would ever resists those pretty thickers...

(And it comes in my favorite texture ever - Fabric! :D)

I call myself a major thicker fan. I think I still have at least 10 packs of them left unused... don't even get me started on those that have been used! :P

Something that looks like a bumblebee.

I've been digging this color combo, yellow and black! These 2 colors (yellow and black) really help to make each other pop even though they resemble the colors of, erhh, well, a bumblebee! (which suggests the name of today blog post's title! Heh!)

I haven't been blogging nor scrapping, which is a really bad sign, given that I am actually on school holidays right now. I should spend the time doing either one of them instead of being a couch potato. Once school starts right back again, I am guessing I will have no time for either of them due to school commitments, homework, yadahyadah. I guess y'all get the drift.

Okay, I know I should stop showing layouts' sneaks with no intention of ever showcasing the entire layout to the public. The truth is... I am that much of a lazy piggo to take the layout and photograph it in a nice way that it can fully displays all the details, and everything in a nice-ish or at least decent way. I am not good at photographing layouts and I doubt I will be in any time soon, so yeah.

Scanning isn't a problem in showing all the details decently, but it really is a major hassle to do all the necessary edits in Photoshop after scanning, because afterall, my scanner is not 12x12, and instead, the standard A4 size scanner. And I am a sucker for die-cut papers, especially scallops, so the scallops details often get cut off at the side no matter how I dealt with it, so hmm, the only solution is to take multiple scans and piece everything together in Photoshop. Now you know it isn't all that fun, and its actually well, very technical-ish. :(

This layout, I sorta went crazy with all the placement and everything. I used one of the Paislee pages that Pink Paislee snugly produced. I must say, its soooo versatile!

That said, I need to work on some birthday cards now (it's crazy as to how 4 out of my 6 best buds' birthdays fall in June/July!) as well as the impending Father Day's card... off to check out some mojo nowwww.

mojo, come back please.

I just realised I haven't been good on updating stuff! :) It has been exactly 3 weeks since I last blogged, isn't it? :/ I have been suffering from a major mojo blankness and thus, all the non-scrappy updates.

I will just leave you guys with a sneak (a layout) that I semi-completed using at least 50% of Label Tulip's Sept kit. Let's see which ones you can spot. :) More details and full reveal later when I have completed everything and added the finishing touches. The sneak is just for fun and nothing formal haha!

TFL!

xx
Shermin

Who's up for some easter egg lovin'? :)

As we all know, Easter is coming really soon and therefore, a little easter egg lovin' is definitely needed. :) As a scrapbooking challenge posed by my LSS, the challenge is to alter an easter egg. The rules being that it must be a real chicken egg and that you must at least scrap 1 photo in. Sounds tough? Well, definitely. ;)

The height of a chicken egg is barely 2 inches, and uh-huh, it's really fragile. To add on to the difficulty of this challenge, the chicken egg has its own unique shape and it will be really hard to use PP to alter it as it will only bend the PP and ultimately destroy it. Cutting the papers into strips aren't exactly useful either...

My original idea is to make a flower vase out of the egg shell, and each of the flower (I am not gonna use real flowers, I am not one person who will give TLC to these little lovelies.. so its best that I don't let them die/wither in my hands!... probably some new Prima flowers or chipboard flourishes from Maya Road would do the trick!) would serve as a frame for the photos. :) I got that inspiration from the MM Flower Patch ad in last month's Creating Keepsakes magazine. ;)

At first, I tried to glimmer mist the egg (!!). Haha, sounds ridiculous? :) Well, it sure is. As Glimmer Mist are all water-based and the egg shell is generally waterproof... so yeah, it was a failed attempt. But some of the glimmer coating got onto the egg even though the mist color is not very obvious, but oh well, better than nothing. ;(

Then, I tried to stick on some PPs stripes on the egg and obviously, 'cause of the odd shape, I can't do it. I tried to search for some 'flimsy materials' that will stick better on egg, and at last, my savior appeared! Guess that it is...

LACE! I think I must be the first person who put lace on an egg! Haha, sounds funny doesn't it? I am so giving this little egg here the baby chick treatment (you get the pun? :P). But unfortunately, as I was trying to put lace over the egg, I accidentally dropped my egg down the floor cause the lace was too long. :/ So um, it had a little crack there and it got more fragile.

Alas, when I tried to stick on the chipboard embellishment, the eggshell finally cracked open fully. (I guess I used too much pressure). I got disheartened after that but I realised that I could very well just get another bigger egg since the ones at home are honestly too small to work with. ;)

Here's a piccy of the lace w/ embellishments after the egg was thrown into the dustbin (byebye!):

Ribbon: Lace (self-owned, bought in local art store)
Die-cuts: Making Memories
Dimensional Stickers: Making Memories
Chipboard elements: Making Memories

I'm sorry you've to see 5% of my creepy little toe in the above picture lol! As you can obviously tell, besides the lace that I used, the rest of the products are from Making Memories' easter line from last year, "Garden Party". :) Don't get me wrong, I love "Flower Patch" but I am still in the hoarding peroid with it and I just can't get myself to cut it out no matter what. Sad, I know.

Up next, I just gotta hollow out yet another egg and (hopefully) succeed in glimmer-misting that same egg. :) Also, I gotta dip my Maya Road flourishes in PP silver pixee stick for some shiny appeal. :) And then, I will attach the MM chipboard butterfly with a cut-out of an photo of Petrina onto the Maya Road flourishes and we will be done with the egg! I can't wait to show you guys what I am coming up with! :)

P.S: I'm on an online-shopping frenzy right now and would love to see some craft shops (preferably related to scrapbooking and fabrics :D) so I would love any recommendations my way. Also looking for some new thickers to play with! :D

sorry!

for the massive lack of updates here. :) I am back to show some eye candy, seeing that I've been creating. It sure does feels good to know that I am still continuing to become the arty-farty little me.

Oh, and watch out all you blog-headers-lovers people ;D, I've acquired some digi scrapping skills and would probably apply them to help me put on a blog-header. So rejoice! No more boring blog layouts without a colorful header!

Something that I've done but 'still doesn't feel right', that kinda layout. I am not sure whether that makes sense, oh well!

I have added a 'signature style' watermark indicating this is my photograph, even though there's nothing to steal, but I kinda like the effect it brings the photo. I guess I am a sucker for anything that just looks handmade/arty-farty! :D

I will be back!

Currently in the midst of creating a birthday card for a beloved friend (and her twin, oh how I wish I can have a twin sister!) who's away on camp (imagine having to spend your birthday with creepy-crawlies) and I would probably be back soon to reveal it when the beautiful recipient is already met with the surprise. (which will be sunday/monday!)

I'm a CHA stalker. [super picture-heavy!]

Being the ever-online CHA stalker I am, I knew I had to post some sneaks! (And also serve as a self-reminder to myself as to which products I am going to buy in the future, you know, kinda like a shopping list, haha)

COSMO CRICKET







If you asked me which collection(s) I love most, I think it gotta be "Girl Friday" and "Ever After". Girl Friday caters to all of us who is still child at heart and perhaps a child physically (me, kay, I'm a teenager, but still a childddd). Ever After is soooo elegant and the hues are so classic, I love how CC will lauch out with a few 'playful & cute' lines accompanied with one 'elegant and soft' lines, if that make sense! Snorkel looks totally cute too... but I love the other 2 colors more... :D

Next up...

SASSAFRAS LASS
(once again, its yet another open secret that I love this company sooooo much that I always rush to my LSS whenever there's new arrivals of goodies from this company, and of course, they did not fail my expectations this time)

They're a little different this time, without all the woodland creatures, but still vintage-ly cute!

Initially I was a little bummed when I did not see my favorite woodland creatures appearing on Sassafras Lass's papers, but "Vintage Yummy" slowly (nah, not really that slow, lol) grew on me!

Just look at it and you will know why..

My favourite PP out of all the papers could be the "Memory Lane" one... I love the retro circles that are revolving around the paper (seems like circles are the new trend now eh? Wait for it, I think Pink Paislee came up with another paper featuring mod circles designs... sweet!)

"Darling Deer" and "Remember me" are equally pretty too, they almost embodied Sassafras Lass all over them! I can't wait for SL's new monograms (so versatile!) and their newest playing cards as well!

This is only the 1st collection out of all their sneaks, and I think as you can tell, I am already head over heels with it, if they are going to go with "save the best for the last", I don't know how in love I will be with in their 3rd collection...

Well now, let's see some new products kickin' in from American Crafts, shall we? ;)

Thickers, thickers thickers, virtually the staple diet for all die-hard scrappers out there... and do you hear meh this time? *NEW THICKERS ALERT - so many new fonts to die-for!* Betcha gonna die with thickers overload!

Polka-dot puffy accents, sweet!




New font (gotta love all those that looks so curcisve ones...)




Now, I want one of each font, each color, don't try to stop me. (or actually, seriously, try to stop me, I am contradicting myself cause of all the new products overload O_O)

Now for their awesome papers.
American Crafts has also rised to being one of my favorite companies when it comes to Patterned Papers (not that I don't love any of their other products though! :D)

And now, can we forget the ever-popular embellishments from AC...

Lots of great American Crafts ribbon





Details Layered Embellishments ... (I love this new small & petite packaging! :D)



Minimarks...


FLA!R!!!



Transparent stickers are my favorite embellishments, they are so vibrant and always make my pages 'pop'!

The journalling stickers... woah, just too cute to miss!



All of them are screaming 'BUY ME! BUY ME!'... now where is my bank account money going towards again? *sigh*

WEBSTER PAGES
(I was so surprised I didn't notice them the other time!)

Those beautiful hues of pale pink, kraft, beige, green, turqoise & cream... total temptation. Resistance is futile, like how they would say it.

Magical wishes! (Can I make a wish that, hoping they would come free to me! Just joking!)



A sweet life! (Who can create ugly pages with these beautiful papers?)



Click on each image to view it in its full-sized glory!

PINK PAISLEE

So…lets jump right into some of the papers shall we???

Introducing…Fetching

These spirited designs capture the charming appeal of the boy who wants to be stylish for dress-up, yet rugged when playtime comes around.

Enjoy the sneak

See what I am talking about when I mentioned the mod circles? Oooh and new die-cut paper, gotta have 'em all! (That sounds familiar, doesn't it?)

CRATE PAPER
To save you guys the trouble...
BAM

Click on each thumbnail to see each of the new collections!

(New die-cut papers, again!)

Jenni Bowlin
Farmer's Wife

Love the new papers!

These journaling cards are sooo cute!

These buttons.. just reminds us of our mothers' time, right? Vintage cream buttons topped with a tiny little pink rhinestones, true Jenni Bowlin's style. :D

I need the vintage little girl's buttons... NOW!

Making Memories

I don't know whether you're supposed to love them or hate them... cause, they always tempt us with that little sneak peeks and then WOW us with the real products. I still love them though! :D <3

I'm thinking this is a new travel line

And this, like everybody else assumed, should be a wedding line:

(Love the colors, you can't go wrong with cream and brown, black and white... now I need some sneaks of the new die-cut papers MM is going to come up with... pretty please? D: )

Collage Press

Such a tiny little sneak, but speaks much for itself!

S.E.I

I love all the new releases last year, and this year is no exception!

Mimosa
February release




Bridgeport
February Release




En Route
April Release



Playday
June Release


HEIDI GRACE
Sweetest Bug







Forever Love